APPLEBY Horse Fair has been cancelled due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Organisers of the historic event have now appealed to travellers not to even think about travelling through Teesdale in May.
A spokesman for gypsy leader Billy Welch said he wanted to let everyone know how sad he was at the decision to cancel.
The spokesman added: “As everybody knows, he has been advised by the government about the seriousness of the situation. It is nothing like we have ever seen before.
“This is an unprecedented situation that we have never experienced in this country and in the world in the last 100 years.
“We have to take this very seriously. It is worse than you can imagine.
“We must do everything we can to protect the elderly and people with underlying medical conditions.
“To cancel Appleby Horse Fair is a small sacrifice to make in this fight against this terrible virus. Everyone in this country has to come together to try and fight this.
“Billy Welch is appealing for everyone from the gypsy and traveller community and the settled community not to come to Appleby this year and please do not even think of staying in the surrounding areas such as road sides or temporary stopping places because this could cause fear and panic in the local community as they have elderly and sick people as well and it would not be fair on them.”
